Carton-handling apparatus



J. L. FERGUSON.

CARTON HANDUNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 14, l92l- RENEWED JUNE 13, 1922.

1 423997., Patented July 18, 1922.

N '3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. L. FERGUSON. CARTON HANDLING APPARATUS.

v APPLICATION FILED JAN- ]4, 1 921. RENEWED JUNE 13, 1922- 1,423,097.

. Patented July 18, 1922.

J. L. FERGUSON.

CARTON HANDLING APPARATUS- APPLICATION man JAN.14, 1921. RENEWED JUNE'I3, 1922.

Patented July 18 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3a STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. FERGUSON, OF J'OLIET, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE QUAKER OATS COMPANY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CARTON-HANDLING APPARATUS.

' eant. pecificationofr a r P n Patented July 18,1922,

Original application filed August 29. 1913, Serial No. "(87,371. Renewed July 16, 1919, Serial No. 311,381. Divided and this application filed January 14, 1921, Serial No. 437,319. Renewed June 13, 1922. Serial No. 567,974.

To all whom it may concern: apparatus to accommodate the same. After Be it known that I, JOHN L. FERGUSON, the weighing and filling operation is coma citizen of the United States, residing at pleted the cartons are deposited on a con- Joliet, in the countyof Will and State of .veyor' which returns them to the sealing. Illinois, have invented new and useful. Immachine in a filled condition and ready for provements in Carton-Handling Apparatus, the sealing .mechanism to act thereupon to of which the following is a full, clear, conclose their open ends. cise, and exact description, reference being For a better understanding of my invenhad to the accompanying drawing, formtion reference may be had to the accominiia part of this specification. panying drawings; in which, l

y invention relates to carton handling Fig. l is a plan View of a carton Sealing apparatus and it has particular relation to and handling machine with which my pneua pneumatically operated system wherein matic carton-transferring mechanism is cartons may be transferred from one deemployed; sired point to another, and deposited at the Fig. 2 is an elevational view on the line latter point in a predetermined position. 2-2 of Fig. 1;

I will hereinafter describe my invention Fig. 3' is an enlarged sectional and elevain connection Witha carton handling and sealtional view of one end of the machine and 7 0 ing machine which ismore fullydescribedand illustrates more clearly the mechanism emclaimed in my co-pending application, ori ibodied in my invention, taken on line 3-3 nally filed August 29, 1913, Serial 0. of Fig. 1; and 787,371, renewed as Serial No. 311,381, on Fig. tis a plan View taken on the line July 16, 1919, the present application being 41- 1 of F ig.- 3. a division of said identified earlier ap- I will only briefly describe the machine plication. as a whole, reserving the more detailed .My invention embodies means whereby illustration for that portion thereof embody articles in this particular instance cartons ing the invention which is hereinafter are transferred pneumatically from one claimed in this application, it being underpoint to another and, in the particular mastood that the machine as a whole is more chine hereinafter described and which was fully described in my co-pending applica- 'first disclosed in my above identified cotion, above identified pending application, the cartons, which have The machine includes a bed 10 supported had one end thereof closed, are positioned on suitable legs, and carries bearings for at one point intheir travel over a nozzle a main drive shaft 11 which is driven from from which issues air under pressure. The another suitable source of power. The shaft cartons are blown into a tube and after pass- K11 drives, through gearing (not shown), a

'ing through said tube are deposited in countershaft 13 from which the majority proper position to be filled or otherwise of the parts of the machine receive their treated, whence they are delivered to an motion. 7 t I other conveyor and are again brought into Mounted so as to rotate in vertical bearoperative relation with the carton handling ings carried by the bed 10 is a' vertical and sealing machine. sprocket wheel 14. The shaft of said wheel In the particular embodiment of, my in 14 also carries a gear wheel 15 which meshes vention hereinafter described, two tubes are with a pinion 16 carried by a stub shaft, provided and the mechanism controlling the which latter shaft is driven, through beveled carton blow-off is so adjusted that alternate gearing 17, by the-counter shaft 13. A cartons are deposited in the same tube wheresprocket chain 18 passes around the sprocket by two filling or weighing machines may be wheel 14 and around a second sprocket 1 continuously supplied with empty cartons,it wheel 19, the latter bein supported at the being assumed that the cartons are supplied opposite end of the mac ine to the wheel from the handling and. sealing machine too 14; The sprocket chain 18 carries the suprapidly for only one weighing and filling porting members for the empty cartons.

The bed 10 carries a pair of rails which encloses between them that part of the sprocket chain 18 which is located at the outside of the machine and the end thereof. The

body also carries a pair of rails 21 which enclose that part of the chain which is located at the center of the machine. As more fully described, in my above identified co -pending application, the rails 21 act in cooperation with the sprocket chain for the filled-carton chairs as well as with the sprocket chain 18 which carries the supports for the empty cartons.

. The supports for the empty cartons are placed at equal distances along the sprocket chain 18. Each of these supports comprises a hollow stand 22 of such size that a carton will fit thereover and,as shown, said stand is provided with an inlet port 23 J at its lower end. The stand 22 is also provided with a ledge or shoulder portion 24 which acts as a stop and upon which rests the edge of one of the side flaps 25 of a carton 26.

. The stand 22 has an aperture or port 27 formed at the top thereof whereby the carton is'blown off said stand and upwardly when air under pressure is admitted through the port 23 into the interior of said hollow stand 22.- v

The stand 22 is provided at its bottom with side flanges 28 which rest upon, and are slidably supported by, the guides 20 or the guides 21, according to the position of the stand in the machine. It will be seen from the above, "that, as the sprocket chain 18 travels in the direction indicated by the arrow, the stands 22 are carried first down the outside of the machine, and then through the center ofthe machine. As these stands pass down the outside of the machine, the empty cartons are placed thereon by hand, both ends of said'cartons being open.

As the cartons are conveyed through the center of the machine, end flaps 29 and 30 at the top end of the cartons are folded down and side flaps 31' at the top of said cartons are folded down, the latter first having glue applied thereto as more specifically described in my above identified co-pending application.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a carton with the top side and end flaps in the position occupied thereby when the carton form is placed upon the stand 22. From this point the cartons are carried down the outside course of the conveyor (toward the left) and then through the center of the machinewhere the top gluing operation is perfomed. After the top end has been folded and glued, as just indicated-, and prior to the stands passing around to the outside of the machine again, the cartons are blown off by the air under pressure which is admitted to the interior ofthe stand 22. The cartons then enter suitable chutes which serve to deliver them with their unsealed or open ends uppermost whereby material may be supplied thereto.

The manner in which the air pressure is supplied to the interior of the stands 22 will now be described. Mounted beneath the sprocket wheel 19 is a blower pipe 32 which is connected with a suitable source of air under pressure and which terminates adjacent said sprocket wheel, in' a pair of nozzles 33 and 34. Said nozzles 33 and 34 are spaced apart a distance which is equal to half the distance between each of the stands 22 and, as shown most clearly in Figure 4, the nozzle 34 is positioned closer to the periphery of the sprocket wheel 19 than is the nozzle 33.

Secured to the sprocket wheel 19 and extending in a plane parallel to the face of said sprocket wheel is a disc valve 35 having formed therein a pair of valve apertures 36 which are adapted to register with the nozzle 33, and having a second pair of valve apertures 37, which latter are adapted to register with the nozzle 34, said latter apertures 37 being spaced equi-distantly between the apertures 36 but as shown in Fig. 4 being formed a greater radial distance from the center of the valve disc 35 than are the apertures 36. p

Mounted above the disc valve 35 and with its lower end co-extensive and in registry with the nozzle 33,.is a pipe 38, the upper end of which is so located that it registers with the ports 23 in the stands 22 as the latter pass above it. A pipe 39 is likewise provided, the lower end of which registers with the nozzle 34 and the upper end of which registers with. the ports 23 of the stands 22 as the latter pass above it. Located above the pipes 38 and 39 are a pair of open ended chutes or tubes 40 and 41 respectively. It will be understood that said chutes reach to a suitable weighing or filling machine (not shown.) and that the cartons, with one of their ends sealed, are projected into these chutes and, as indicated, will be delivered, with their open ends upward, to such a filling machine. After the packages are filled it is assumed, for purposes of convenience and illustration, that the filled cartons are placed upon another conveyor 42by means of which they are delivered again to the. sealing portion of the machine and their open ends sealed closed.

which the port 23 is in registry with the pipe 38 the 'mechanism' of the machine is so synchronized that one of. the valve apertures 36 will be in registry with the nozzle 33, the other nozzle being closed by said disc valve. Inasmuch as a clear passage then extends from the nozzle 33 into the interior of the stand 22, the compressed air passes upwardly through the port 23 and into the interior of said stand, whereupon the carton is forcibly blown upwardly into the chute 40 and, since this chute is, of course, of such dimensions that the carton does not turn over therein, said carton'is delivered to the weighing and filling machine with its open end upward.

However, it has been assumed that each filling and weighing machine can only take care of one-half ofthe cartons which are sealed by the mechanism hereinbefore indicated. Therefore, the next carton, which, has been carried through the center of the machine and which has had its top end sealed, is projected into the other chute 41 and, as assumed, is delivered in proper position to another weighing machine. By this arrangement it will be seen that the mechanism of t the package handling system is so arranged that no interruption 1s suffered by reason of the package sealing machine having a greater capacity than one package filling and weighing machine. I

The projection age into the chute 41 is accomplished as follows: When the stand, next following that from which the carton has just been removed and projected into, the chute 40, reaches the pipe 38-, the nozzle 33' will have been closed; but by the time this latter stand reaches the pipe 39 the nozzle 34 will have been opened, by 'reasonof one of the ports 23 having'come into registry therewith. The next carton,

therefore, will be'blown up into the chute 41.

It will be seen therefore, that the empty cartons, with their top ends sealed, are alternately blown off the stands into the chutes 4:0 and 41, andare thus delivered in proper position to the weighing and filling mechanism. From the latter they are returnedto the machine via another'conveyor-42, which "guidewaysin a predetermined sequence.

is indicated in Fig. 1..

From the foregoing itiwill be evident tothose skilled in the art that" I have so arranged a pneumatically" opera-ted carton- Ia'ansferring mechanism, that the cartons with the topends thereof are sealed, are a u tomatically removed from the stands upon which they are positioned and pneumatically carried to another point where they are deposited in the proper position for some other operation to beperformed thereupon.

While I have illustrated and described but one embodiment of my invention-it is apparent that many modifications therein may occur to vtho'se skilled in the art and I desire, therefore, that my invention be broadly n- Of the last indicated pack-' guidew'ays, means for removing said cartons terpreted and limited only by the showing of the-prior art and by the scope of the ap- .bers provided with an aperture whereby each of said cartons may have air under pressure projected against its interior, d-riv- 1ng means comprising a conveyor upon which said cartons are mounted and a sprocket wheel for moving said conveyor, an air supply line adapted to furnish air to the interior ofsaid hollow supports, and a valve member mounted on, but spaced apart from, said wheel for opening and closing the entrance from said line into the interior of said supports.

3. In a machine of thecharacter described, a series of hollow carton supports, driving means for said supports comprising a conveyorand a sprocket wheel driving the latter, said supports bein mounted perpendicular to the face of sai wheel, as air supply pipe, and means comprising a member carried by said sprocket wheel and adapted to be moved transversely across the end of said supply pipe whereby the air, supplied to the interior of said hollow supports, is regulated. 4. In a machine of'the character described,

supports for carrying cartons, carton-direct- 5. a machine of the character described, supports for carrying cartons, propelling means for said supports, carton-directing rom said supports, projecting them through said guideways', and depositing them at a predetermined point, said means comprisin an air line and valve devices associated. wit said "propelling means for so directing the air from said pipe to said supports that said cartons are, upon removal from thedatter,

directed alternately into the several guideways. Y

6. In a machine of the character described, supports for carrying cartons, a conveyor air line an carrying said suppor s and a wheel propelling said conveyor. carton-directing guide ways,-means for removing said cartons from saidsupports, projecting them through said guideways, and depositing them at a predetermined oint, said means comprising an d a valve disc carried by said wheel and provided with apertures for so connecting said air line with said .carton supports, that said cartons are, upon removal from the latter, directed into the several guideways in a'predetermined sequence. I 7. In a machine of the character described, supports for carrying cartons, means for propelling said supports comprising a wheel, carton-directing guideways, means for removing said cartons from said support, pro- "jecting them through said guide-ways, and

depositing them at a desi'red point, said 'means comprising an air line adapted to be connected to said supports and a disc valve carried by said wheel and having apertures therein whereby said air line may be connected to alternate supports to .blow the cartons thereupon into one guideway and may be connected to the other supports to blow the other cartons into another guideway.

8. In a machine of the character described, supports for carrying cartons, means for propelling said supports comprising awheel, carton-directing guideways, means for removing said cartons from said supports,.projecting them. through said guideways, and depositing them at a desired point, said means comprising a branched air line adapted to be connected to said supports and a disc valve carried by said wheel and having apertures therein whereby one branch of said air line may be connected to alternate supports to blow the cartons thereupon into one guideway and whereby another branch of said line may be connected to the other supports to blow the other cartons into another guideway.

9. In a machine of the character described, supports for carrying cartons, means for propelling said supports comprising a wheel,

carton-directing guideways, means for re-- moving said cartons from said supports, projecting them through said guideways, and depositing them at a desired point, said means comprising an air line adapted to be connected to said supports and a disc valve mounted in a plane parallel to, and carried by, said wheel and having apertures therein whereby said air line may be connected to alternate supports to blow the cartons thereupon into one guideway and may be connected to the other supports to blow the other cartons into another guideway.

10. In a machine ofthe character described, supports for carrying cartons, means for propelling saidsupports comprising a wheel, said supports extending perpendicularly to the 'face of said wheel and the cartons being positioned thereupon with their closed ends upwards, carton-directing guideways, mounted above said carton supports, means for blowing said cartons,

off said supports upwardly into said guide ways, the latter being so directed that the cartons are deposited, at a desired point, with their open ends upwards, said means comprising an air line adapted to be connected to said supports and a disc valve carried by said wheel and having apertures therein whereby said air line may be connected to alternate supports to blow the cartons thereupon into one guideway and may be connected to the other supports to blow I the other cartons into another guideway.

11. In a machine of the character described, a series of carton supports, an air line, means embodying a wheel, for moving saidsupports, and a disc valve mounted on said wheel and adapted to connect said line to said supports.

12. In a machine of the character described, a series of carton supports, a

branched air line, means embodying a wheel .tures whereby one branch of said line furnishes air to blow the cartons from alternate supports and another branch thereof supplied air to blow the cartons from the supports intermediate said first named'supports. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN L. FERGUSON. 

